1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for manipulating portable equipment, and in particular, to a system and method for manipulating portable equipment in response to a human foot motion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable equipment supporting a variety of functions in addition to a call function, such as TV and music functions, is rapidly becoming more popular in place of the traditional indoor electronic appliances that provide such functions.
As this popularization occurs, consumers are requiring an ease of manipulation of these functions, creating a substantial amount of research in methods for manipulation of such portable equipment.
For example, button pressing was predominately used to activate functions in previous generation portable equipment, but touch screen or voice recognition is increasingly popular in current-generation portable equipment, to reduce button space or increase manipulations. Also, a method for manipulating portable equipment by motion recognition of an installed geomagnetic sensor or acceleration sensor is currently being used.
However, in the conventional button or touch screen methods, it is impossible to manipulate the portable equipment when a user cannot use his/her hands or is not carrying the portable equipment. Furthermore, multiple button presses can be troublesome.
In the conventional voice recognition method, when ambient noise is present, it can be difficult for voice to be recognized. This causes inconvenience of portable equipment manipulation. In the motion manipulation method, the portable equipment itself should be in motion, which is inconvenient when a user attempts to manipulate the portable equipment while viewing a display state of the in-motion portable equipment.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved manipulation method for portable equipment.